Peter Cushing

John Hurt

Alexandra Bastedo

Gwen Watford

Veronica Carlson

Don Henderson

Ian McCulloch

Stewart Bevan

John D. Collins

Dan Meaden

Henry Richardson

Kevin Francis

Anthony Hinds

Harry Robertson

Jack Shampan

Freddie Francis

Anthony Mendleson

Roy Baker

John Wilcox

Philip Martell

Bridget Sellers

Douglas Webb

James Bawden

John Brommage

Johnny Greenland

Jimmy Evans

Nick Rivers

Pamela Davies

Harry Woodley

Joan Carpenter

Ken Barker

David Wynn-Jones

James Payne

Horror

Mystery

The Ghoul

Tyburn Film Productions Limited

United Kingdom

***What evil lurks in the foggy marshes of Land’s End, England?***

In the 1920s, a couple traveling to Land’s End, England, runs out of petrol in the fog wherein the female (Veronica Carlson) encounters a peculiar gardener (John Hurt) and the estate of a former-minister (Peter Cushing), who lives there with his East Indian servant and… something else. Another couple shows up looking for their friends (Ian McCulloch & Alexandra Bastedo). Havoc ensues.          

“The Ghoul” (1975) meshes “Psycho” (1960) with “The Shuttered Room” (1967) and Hammer’s "Demons of the Mind" (1972). It was made by a short-lived company that was inspired by Hammer films and utilized many of the same people & locations of that company. It thus has a Hammer vibe and is on par with much of their horror output from the 60s-70s. 

Some have called it the British version of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974), but it’s more toned-down and concentrates on troubled souls and eerie mood corresponding to the foggy marshes of Cornwall, England, and the unspeakable mysteries of India.     

The movie runs about 1 hour, 28 minutes (with a shorter version that has several minutes cut), and was shot at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, just west of London.

GRADE: B

English